ipolarbear6

Thanks for your help. Probably best if I start from the beginning. I have an iMac of a fairly high spec and large screen. My husband wants to use it for his Vodahost software which will only run on a PC. Snow Leopard (OSX v6) contains Boot Camp which allows you to partition the Mac hard drive and install a Windows programme. Ultimately I want to run Vista which is what my husband has been using but it's an upgrade so first of all I need to put the XP on so that I can do this. I was able to partition (to 32GB) and load XP. Next I need to install the Boot Camp drivers which will allow the Windows partition to recognize some of the iMac facilities ie Airport, isight etc. Until I have done this, I cannot connect to the internet when booted up on the Windows partition as I use my iPhone and XP doesn't have the right facilities. To load the drivers, I need to install SP2. I downloaded the Service Pack 2 from the Microsoft site on the internet and I have tried to instal it from a flash drive in the USB, from a CD which I burned a copy onto and from a copy on the the c:Local Drive. I seem to remember that years ago, you inserted the cd and ran it and so that is what I was expecting. From each of the 3 locations I get the same result. This is a full copy of 272.2MB. I cannot run from the internet in XP because I can't connect until I have loaded the Boot Camp drivers for which I need SP2 installed. When I click on the file it says extracting archives and runs a whole load of files all of which begin i386/...... The the installation wizard comes up and I say continue and then it gives me the terms and conditions which I accept and then it checks for the space necessary for the deinstallation files. At this point, when the blue bar is about half way across the slot, it says the following (all our Windows programmes are in Spanish so this is a complete translation - it won't be quite the identical wording that you are used to but it will be recognizable) "There is not sufficient space on C:\WINDOWS\$NtServicePackUninstall$ to install Service Pack 2. The installation programme needs at least 4 additional megabytes of space or, also for saving uninstall files, the installation programme needs 4 additional megabytes of free space. Free up space on your hard drive and try again." The only reason I went the nLite route after this was that I found a forum entry which was exactly the same (but 3 years ago!) and it said use nLite etc. Any suggestions? I clearly don't have a hard drive space problem as there is still 28GB free but until I can load service pack 2 I can't progress. Any help is gratefully received.

When I first had this problem I looked at several forums to see what solution was recommended and several said that if I installed nLite, that it would solve the 4MB needed problem which has clearly been a fairly common thing. I did not use it to install XP because I had already installed it successfully and I'm afraid I'm a Mac girl and am not familiar with all this slipstreaming that everyone keeps talking about. I put the SP2 update on the desktop in Documents and Settings following Insane Clown's manual as he seemed to think that was a good place and he seems to be somewhat of an nLite expert on your forum. But I think you're right in that it is not in the right place but I have also tried putting it in the Windows folder, originally had it on USB and have tried from a CD. They all said the same ie " Make sure the selected folder or drive contains the i386 or AMD64 directory and proper windows installation files" I assumed that you run the Service Packs after you have installed because that's how they would have been issued ie its an update. Vista is irrelevant at this point because all I am trying to do is put on SP2 so that I can load my Boot Camp drivers. Also, you can't upgrade to Vista without SP2. This was a common problem - it must have been solved by someone.

I am attempting to install a Vista update on an XP full set using Boot Camp on my Mac. So far, with much too-ing and fro-ing between the partitions I have managed to install XP, install .net FRAMEWORK v2 and install nLite but I still can't install Service Pack 2. Without nLite it goes through all the set up using i386 until it loads the wizard then it scans for space and says that it needs 4 MB more but there are 28GB free (I partitioned to 32gb) With nLite, I have copied SP2 to the desktop of shared documents in Documents and Settings. I have also tried installing it from a copy on the USB flash and also from a copy on a CD. I get the same result. It says 'Make sure the selected folder or drive contains the i386 or AMD64 directory and proper windows installation files". I formatted to NTFS because I want to update to Vista and the first time I loaded XP I did FAT32 and the Vista disc said that it needed to be NTFS. (I scrapped the partition and started again) I see from other forums that this problem occurred a lot in 2008 and I assume that by now, someone has found a solution. I cannot load the drivers or upgrade to Vista without SP2 so I am stuck. Any one got any advice? I can't use SP3 without SP1 and SP1 won't load either! My Mac is an iMac 3GB memory and with 750 GB hard drive. I have also download Insane Clowns reference manual from the nLite site which I have followed but just can't get passed the i386/AMD64 issue. We have other legal copies of Vista but they are buried on Toshiba and Dell installation discs (and are still in use). HELP!!!!